Market Stats

Apple is nearly the only company profiting from the smartphone business, Canaccord Genuity tells the Wall Street Journal, as the iPhone maker records 92% of total Q1 2015 operating income from the top 8 smartphone makers.

The only other company accounting for any profit (15%) is Samsung, while all other companies either just manage to break even or record losses.

Such Apple results are a drastic increase from the 65% recorded on Q1 2014. Thus, the company plans to make a record number of new iPhones while Samsung braces itself for disappointing results, HTC reports quarterly losses and Microsoft writes down 80% of the value of the Nokia mobile device business.

Futuresource Consulting reports growing shipments of low-cost Android devices are leading to dilution of the Apple share of the tablet market, as well as "dramatic" tablet ASP declines during the 2010-2014 period.

The analyst predicts a slowdown of the global tablet market, as consumer sales plateau and retail prices continue to drop further. A number of territories should still see growth-- 2014 shipments in some emerging markets are up by over 30%-- but several major markets see low or even negative growth.

Smaller-screen tablets hold 71% 2014 shipment share, but the category is at risk of cannibalisation by larger smartphones/phablets. Thus vendors are expected to shift production from 7-8-inch+ devices by end 2015.

Mobile internet is not just for smartphones, Gartner says-- cellular-embedded mobile PC, tablet and mobile hot spot device shipments are up by 5.6% to 112 million in 2015 as demand for always-on internet connectivity drives further adoption.

"Mobile access is not just about smartphones," the analyst remarks. "Consumers and business users alike want to connect multiple mobile devices to the Internet at an affordable cost or at an acceptable data rate."

The growing number of non-smartphone devices-- and resultant connection needs-- represent, of course, an opportunity for vendors, retailers and telcos. Some companies are even going for collaborations, such as the case of HP, Qualcomm and T-Mobile, who offer a 200MB of free data monthly with the 4G-enabled HP Stream Book 13.

Global cellular-embedded mobile PC (notebooks and premium ultramobiles) should grow from 1.8m to 4.9m from 2014 through 2019, with penetration growing from 1.3% to 2.7% of total mobile PCs. Such totals should remain relatively low, as the majority of mobile PCs find desk-based use, and such tend to have fixed broadband access. However Gartner points out an opportunity in premium ultramobiles, which tend to be preferred by frequent travellers willing to pay extra for easy internet access.

According to IDC the global wearable device market sees an 8th consecutive quarter of "steady" growth in Q1 2015 as shipments grow by 200% Y-o-Y to reach 11.4 million units, up from the 3.8m shipped in Q1 2014.

"Bucking the post-holiday decline normally associated with Q1 is a strong sign for the wearables market," the analyst says. "It demonstrates growing end-user interest and the vendors' ability to deliver a diversity of devices and experiences. In addition, demand from emerging markets is on the rise and vendors are eager to meet these new opportunities."

Such results come before the Apple Watch actually hits the market-- post-launch the Apple take on wearables will probably (if not surely) become the standard all other such devices will be judged against, and as such should force the competition to up their game.

Belkin announces an addition to the Mixit DuraTek durable cable line-- a USB-C cable featuring Kevlar-reinforced conductors and double-braided nylon shielding on the outside.
The USB-C cable is certified by both...

Snap-- aka the rebranded Snapchat-- announces the Spectacles, its video-recording sunglasses, are now available in Europe, 7 months after an initial US launch.
For the unfamiliar, the Spectacles are a pair...